语言·翻译今日看点

【看极品基老伴学翻译】「伪装」要怎么说?

2016-10-29  本文已影响73人  d2db7c511f96

pass as

pass as: to give some unreal impression that is accepted as real; pass for something (制造一种假象,让别人信以为真)

pass for: to be accepted as or believed to be (相信某件事就是这样的)

不难发现,无论是 pass as,还有用来解释它的 passfor,这里的 pass 和我们熟悉的「通过」没有关系,其实在 pass 的几十条释义里,「通过」也不是他最基本的释义。

他的句子可以这样造:

The spy was able to pass as a regular citizen.
间谍能将自己伪装成一个普通市民。

make that rug gay

rug 是地毯的意思,所以这句话的直译是「你站在地毯上,连地毯都是 gay gay 的」。这是一句非常巧妙的挖苦,没有直接攻击对方,却用了一种非常夸张的方式,攻击他身边的东西。就好像我们有时候会吐槽一个朋友胖,就说「你挡着我 wifi 信号了」一样。

make something 还有一个非常有意思的词组叫做,make something out of nothing ,也可以写作 make something (out) of it。

这个词组的意思是:to say that something is a problem when it is not ,也就是「无中生有」的意思。比如这个例句:

You seem to think I'm making something out of nothing, but I think these letters are important.
你们也许会认为是我在无中生有,但我觉得这些信非常重要。

它还有另外一种用法,像这样:

Yeah, I like Lee's movies – you want to make something of it?
对,我就是喜欢小李子的电影,你想怎么样?


vomit

vomit 本身的含义非常直白: to eject part or all of the contents of the stomach through the mouth, usually in a series of involuntary spastic movements. 就是「呕吐」的意思。

除此之外,vomit 有一个很有意思的俚语叫做:as a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

它的意思是:Foolish people are apt to repeat their missteps.

直译过来就是「狗改不了吃屎」,显得有些粗鄙……我们也可以翻译成「好了伤疤忘了疼」,比如下面这个对话:

A: "I can't believe Sarah is going skiing again, after she broke her leg the last time."
B: "Well, as a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

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